It's time to fly!

Day 6 (30^th)

­We woke up to snow covered mountain tops. It was a wee bit chilly, but that didn’t stop us from hiking around wetlands. We even saw a baby porky pine curled up in the middle of the trail! ADORABLE! We made a quick exit to Queensland before we getting caught for camping in a no camping area.

And now…  it’s hang gliding time!

Hang gliding, who does it? It’s totally a 90’s sport that’s fallen off the radar. Now everyone wants the thrill of skydiving or bungee jumping not a joy ride through the sky. Well sucks for them because I have realized it’s an amazing sport! It’s exuberating! I’ve always wanted to know what it’s like to fly and now I know. We took two steps, ran off a cliff, laid down, and with no time were soaring through the wind. It’s a great way to see the landscape. I flew over pines and could see the spaces between the trees. I was flying above flying hawks. We danced along a ridgeline for awhile. As gravity brought us closer to the ground we did some stalls and swoop turns. My guide even let me steer two turns which turned out to be quite difficult! You have to hold on to the bar and push it left and right without moving your hands. It’s all core strength because you have nothing to push against. To land we stayed in flying position and swept along the grass until the wheels hit and soon our bodies skidded to a stop with fresh grass stains on the jump suits. It is defiantly something I want to do again. I would love to take lesson to learn how to fly on my own. Surprisingly it’s very safe and crashes really only occur when learning to take off and landing. The most damage done is usually bruises and scraps and maybe a broken bone if you’re unlucky.

My awesome guide from Chile

After the adrenaline rush of flying, what’s better to do than a Pub Crawl! We rolled in early and met the man in charge. Since it the last night of the pub crawl he hooked us up with some swag. I figured if I wore the pub crawl shirt I could just act as a rep and free drinks all night, anddd it was a success! I started the night off well by convincing half a dozen to a dozen people to join us. This is when the drinks started flowing. All night I was getting questions about where to go and what the drink specials were. I was leading the crew and none of the bouncers had to id me because I was working! We danced the night away, of course when to Fergburger, climbed a tree, and ended with watching the sunrise. It was 6 am when we crawled into bed only to be waken at 10 to start the next day!

The beginning of the night (Pete, Me, Dave, Andrew, Daniela)

The end of the night (Friend from Christchurch, Pete, Dave, Me, and Daniela)

A Choir full Baaahh's

Day 5 (29^th)

The drive to Milford Sound is windy as can be. It’s filled with 20 kph turns and few hairpins thrown in as well. You must drive over a pass and through a tunnel. It rains on average 221 days out of the year in Milford Sound so as soon as you pass through the tunnel you can bet yourself it’s going to be raining. We hopped on a boat to get the full experience. I even made friends with the skipper and so I had a house seat while bouncing Kiwi jokes off each other. 

Penguins!

Seals!

On our way out of Milford Sound we had to stop on the far side of the tunnel because Daniela had never touched snow! Whattttt?!?!? We hiked/boulder hopped up to a snowy patch and the two boys and I continued to the base of a waterfall. At this time the sun came out. We were standing where the water met the snow, glazing over the valley, and being awed by the double rainbow formed by the waterfall… what more could you ask for! We skied (with our shoes) our way down to the bottom successfully drenching every inches of clothing we had on. 

 We drove south to Manapouri and ended up camping at Watuga Wetlands. First thing we did was hiked to the river. On our way, we passed through many sheep fields and a single person bridge. We passed a fisherman and got the inside scoop of how great the fly fishing was. That night Pete and I decided to test our luck by going cow tipping. The cows were in the same field as the sheep so as soon as we got close there was a choir full of baahhh’s. This along with clouds covering moon made it quite challenging. Even with odds against us, we managed to tip the biggest, badest cow out there. Ha, yaaa right! We didn’t even make it close, but that’s not what we told the rest of the campers ; ). The clouds cleared so we ended the glorious night star gazing and staring at the full moon.

Sheep butts!

An Unbelievable Sight!

Day 4 (28^th)

We woke up at a decent hour for today was the day to hiked to the top of gondi. I have fallen in love with Queenstown. It is a lovely mix of Telluride and Lake Tahoe. There are ski resorts all around the city and a gondola for biking/hiking/the view. We trenched upwards for a good hour and were then rewarded with a breathtaking sight.

Before leaving town in search of Te Anau we stopped at the famous Fergburger. Anyone who has gone through Queenstown knows of Fergburger. The burgers are huge, about the size of your spread hand! The buns are freshly made and all the toppings taste like they were cut from the garden that morning.

We were on our way to Milford Sound, but the road is closed from 6pm until 7am so we had to camp just outside Te Anau. After finding a free campground, we played cards and were out for the night.

I'm 22!

Day 3 (27^th)

We had parked beside the highway in a cute rest area over the night. Bright and early we left our neighbors behind and headed for Lake Tekapo. Imagine a sea foam color mixed with turquoise and a splash of glitter. This is how the water looked. Amazing! Turns out all the lakes in south island have this color. I assume it’s just the high amounts of minerals that brighten the waters to unbelievable colors. We saw the famous church and sheep dog statue along the lake and carried on to Mt. Cook.

At the base of Mt. Cook lies Lake Pukaki. The only route possible was the scenic route which I was completely ok with!  We curled around the mountains until we were at the base of Mt. Cook which is the highest mountain in New Zealand. It surprisingly looks similar to the peak of Big Sky, Montana. We took a quick hike up to the glacier. I was surprised to find out I had seen this view before! In my suitability class at Swinburne, we studied this glacier by comparing a present day photo with a photo from the 50’s. The glacier has tremendously reduced its size. You can even see the old glacier line!

Me, Pete, Dave

Driving back we pulled over for a quick dip in the lake, aka glacier runoff. We hop in and right back out of Lake Pukaki because it was terrible cold, but still very refreshing!

Andrew, Me, Dave, Pete

Since it was my 22^nd birthday we drove on to Queenstown. We of course hit the bars attempting to get free birthday shots at every place. At our first bar we ran into all the other Melbourne folk that were road tripping through south island. It was a pleasant surprise and the rest of the night is history.

The whole crew is now together!

Day 2 (26^th)- Kaikoura

We took a hop, skip, and jump to get out of Christchurch. We grabbed the camper as soon as possible and started north.  For the rest of the trip the crew consisted of Dave (kind of boring), Pete (balls to the walls), Daniela (mom), Andrew (dad), and myself.

Andrew, Daniela, Pete, Myself, Dave

Daniela and Andrew had plans to kayak so the rest of us decided to hit the waves. We rented boards from a German who grew up in Ireland and now lives in New Zealand. Mix all those accents together and then slow it down to stoner pace and you’ve got the guy we were dealing with! Wow, was it difficult getting anything done! We rented all the equipment and drove out to find the water as rowdy as a nursing home. The tallest wave was suit for an ant. We hop right back in the car to return our stuff.

Since our first adventure turned out to be a fail, we hit the other side of the coast to hike amongst the seals. Turns out… seal are VICIOUS! I never would have thought I’d be shaking with fear when I was caught between a rock wall and a seal. We quickly turned around and found another hike. It was a gorgeous walk with ocean side cliffs on one side and grassy planes on the other. So far, our record was not very good as we’d only accomplished one out of three activities. We grabbed mom and dad and headed south to get out of the unlucky north!